Pre-Markets Up on Lower Oil Prices, Strong Data September 17, 2026 — 10:34 am EDT
Written by Mark Vickery for Zacks
linkedin reddit Thursday, September 17th, 2026 Pre-market futures are filling in yesterday’s potholes. This occurred during and after Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s press conference yesterday afternoon, which saw him deny guidance to where the Fed means to go with interest rates following the first FOMC move of 2026: up +25 basis points (bps), to a new range of +3.75-4.00%. The Dow, in particular, felt the brunt of yesterday’s sell-off, -1.2%.This morning, the Dow is roaring back +626 points, the Nasdaq +468 and the S&P 500 +95 points — all between +1.2-1.6% gains. The small-cap Russell 2000 is up +1.4%, +39 points. Bond yields have relaxed gently: +4.96% on the 10-year, +4.68% on the 2-year and +5.31% on the 30-year. Oil prices have also come down: $99 per barrel (/bbl) on WTI and $102 on Brent crude.
Initial Jobless Claims Match 57-Year Lows The most consistently promising of all employment data remains the Weekly Jobless Claims. Last week’s Initial Jobless Claims reached its lowest level since mid-June at +196K, down from the +207K expected and -10K fewer than the previou...